Air lock



July 19 1927' J. H. MURPHY ET AL AIR LOCK Filed Auz. 28. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet l July 419,1927. 1 1,636,572

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. 1,636,572 J. H. MURPHY ET AL AIR LOCK Filed Aug. 28. 1925 3 Sheets-sheet '5 @YW f *972m Patented July 19, 1927.

unirse As'iuares PATENT oFFicE.

JOHN H. MURPHY AND ELsToN A. Loz, or sT. Louis, MISSOURI.

AIR LOCK.

2s, v1925. serial No. 52,972.y

Application filed August Our invention relates to improvements in air locks and has for its primary object an air lock which is provided with an eccentrically arranged one piece door in the top of the lock so that same can be operated by one man.

A further object is to construct an air lock in which the bottom door is so constructed `as to enable it to be operated by one man from the top of the air lock.

By our construction the number of men necessary to operate the air lock is considerably reduced- At the present time with the ordinary construction ot air locks, at least two men are 'required to operate the top door. Two men are required to operate the lower door. A fifth man is necessary to guide the cable through the top of the lock. One man is required in the lock and one caisson worker, making a total of at least seven men. In larger locks, the number oli' nen necessary to operate the topy doors is increased on account of the weight of the door.

Another advantage of our construction is that the man inside of the air lock operates the air valve ltor controlling the admission of air to and from the lock, this saving considerable time. In fact we have found that by the use of our type of air lock, the amount of material moved therethrough can be greatly increased, thus not only a saving in man power and wages is achieved but also an increase inspeed; all of which taken together enables ns to make a considerable saving in cost. Furthermore our air lock is only about onefnalt of the weight of the ordinary air lock and can, therefore. be handled and placed in position more readily than the present type of lock.

1n the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of our device Showing the manner in which the bottom door1 is manipulated from the top vor the lock;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section oi our improved air lock;

3 is a top plan view of thek same;

Fig. d is a horizontal section taken on he line 1-41 of Fig. 2; looking` in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrow; n

Fig. 6 is an enlarged :tragmental section showing the manner oit packing the shaft onwhich the lower door is mounted;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of one of the upper door hangers showing the adjustable feature; i y

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of the blind bearing secured to one end of the lower door shaft; and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of the wear plate secured to the top through which the cablepasses.

In the construction ot' our device. we employ an air lock consisting of cvlindrical member 10. ThisI member is provided with top 11. To the opposite end of the cylindri/cal member is secured a tapering 1nembei' 12, which is provided with anoutwardly extending. flange 13 through which openings are :termed so that it 'can be bolted on to the sleeve 14. This sleeve is designed to' be at-tached'tc a caisson in the usual manner, which, be'i'ng well knownin the art, will not be described in detail. The ton 11 is pro-y vided with a flange 15 which lits inside of the cylindrical member 1() and is for the purpose of permitting the rivets v16 to be passed therethrough for 'securing the top to the cylindrical member. The top is provided with an openingl, which is .eccentric to the top and which is preferably so arranged that its edgewill come directly at the center of the top.. The edge o1c thisy opening at the center is provided with a semi-circular opening 18 to permit the pasrsage of the cable to which the bucket is attached. This cable or bucket is notshown tor they form no particular part of our inventicn and are in common use at thepresent time. Y f

To the underside of the top 11 is attached a wear block or plate 19, which is provided with a semi-circular opening 20. This opening is arranged in alignment with the opening 18. pThe block 19 is preferably of hardened tool st el so that t-he wear of the cable will not enlarge it rapidly, at the same time, should the opening become too large, the block can be removed and anew block inserted. e v

Secured through the top are spaced apart hangers 21, which are provided with a screw thread shank 22. To these lhangers 21 are secured the hinges 23', which hinges are in turn fastened tothe low-er tace of the top door 24. The hangers 21a-re adjusted upleo ward and downward by means oi the nuts 25. This is for the purpose of permitting the door to be adjusted so that when closed, it will bear evenly all around the openino'. Placed on the door is a gasket 26, which is preferably in the form of a rubber ring, and which is held in position on the door by means of a metallic ring 27 through which rivets 28 pass. These rivets also eX- tend through the door. A portion of the ring adjacent the opening 18 is cutaway and in this portion is inserted a tool steel plate 29, which is provid-ed with a semicircular recess 30 and is for the same purpose as the wear plate 19.

Secured to the underside of the top is a brace 31, the purpose oct which is to stiften the top. This b v'ace may be either a T iron, or it may be an angle or a channel as found desirable. The number of braces may also be varied; the purpose ot these braces is to prevent the top from bulging due to the air pressure within the casing.

- Mounted within the member 12 is a platform or deck 32, which is provided with a central opening 33. This opening is designed to be closed by the door 34 which is provided with a gasket held in position by a ring 36. The door 34 is provided with hinges 37, which are firmly secured to a shaft-38 by means of set scr ws 39. One end of the sha-tt V38 is supported in a blind bearing 40, which is preferably welded on to the outside of the tapered member 1 2. The opposite end ot the shaft extends through a bearing 41, which is provided with a packing gland 42. This gland is tightened by means of a nut 43 andin order to prevent the shaft 38 from shitting, a set collar 44 is employed. The projecting portion of the shaft 3S is provided with a square portion 45 over which a lever 46 lits. This lever is held in position by means ot a nut 47. Secured to the free end of the lever 46 is the bifurcated end 47 ot a rod 4S. This rod passes through a guide loop 49 secured .to the top of the caisson and is provided on its upper end with the handle 50 by means oi which the door can be opened and closed by an operator on top of the casing.

Formed through the d-eck 32 is an opening 51, which is surrounded by a tlange 52. This opening and flange are screw threaded to receive one end of the pipe 53. On the opposite end of this pipe is secured a three way valve 54. From this valve a pipe leads through a flange to the atmosphere, this flange being preferably located near the top of the air lock. The valve 54 is operated by means Ot a handle 56. This operation will be explained in detail later. Secured to the cylindrical member 10 and adjacent the top and bottom edges thereof are brackets 57, which are for the purpose of securing a ladder 58 so that the operators can enter and leave the air lock. An opening 59 is also formed in the side or' the cylindrical member 10 for the admission oitl an electric cable for the purpose ot supplying light within the air lock. An opening 60 is formed through the deck 32 which permits an electric cable to be passed down into the caisson for 'furnishing light 'tor the workmen therein. Secured to the outer tace ot the cylindrical member 10 and adjacent the bottom thereof is a flange 61, which is proivided with a screw threaded opening 62 to receive a pipe 6B. This pipe is iitted with a globe valve 64. The pipeunay be used either ior air under high pressure so that i a pneumatic tool can be worked in the caisson in the event it becomes necessary to do any drilling or a short section of hose 65 may be attached thereto for the. purpose of washing concrete from the deck and Adoor 34, which is necessary during the time that the caissons are being iilled withconcrete. The deck 32 is suitably braced by means of braces or brackets 66. hedoor 24 is also provided with a ring 67 by means ot which this door can be closed. The top ot the air lock may also be provided with .suitable rings 68 for the purpose of attaching hoisting cables thereto for the purpose ot moving the air lock from one location to another. j

The member 12 is also provided with a screw threaded opening 69, which is located below the deck 32 and which is usually closed with a plug 70, thepurpose of this opening is to actas an emergency connection7 in case anything should go wrong with the usual air supply, to the caisson as an emergency air line can be attached thereto in a vshort while so that the air pressure can be maintained in the caisson at all times.

The operation oi our device is as follows:V

Alfter the air'lock has been secured to the caisson in the usual manner. the lowerV door is closed and air supplied to the caisson until the proper pressure has been reached, T he caisson worker and the air lock man nowk the same as in the caisson, the door 34Y opens and the caisson worker tog-etherwith the bucket is lowered into the caisson.1 The caisson worker now lills the bucket and, when it is full, the man in the air lock signals in the usual manner and the bucket is hoisted into the air lock. llVhen thebuclket has entered the air lock, the operator again CII signals, which is'the sign to stop hoisting and to close the lower' door, which is done by one of the men on top of the air lock pulling up on the lever 48. As soon the door 34 is closed, the man in the air lock manipulates the handle 5G closing oitr the pipe 53 and positioning the gate in the valve so that the air 'from the air loclrwill escape to the atmosphere. As soon ai' -Ahe pressure l sun jj. the

in the air lock is reducen door Qt opens automatically, the door 3i ing now held in closed position by the pressure in the caisson. The bucket together with the material is now vremo/*ei through the top of the caisson, emptied,A and returned to the air lock. rEhe door 24 is again closed by the workers on top of the air lock and the handle 56 manipulated so as to permit air to enter the lock from the caisson. As soon as the air in the lock has reached the saine pressure the air in the caisson, the door del swings open automatically and upon a further signal the bucket is again lowered into the caisson.

Should it become necessary to use an air drill in the caisson, an air supply pipe is at tached to the flange 61 on the outside and an air hose to the inside. This air hose is then led downward through the opening 83 and into the caisson where it is attached to theV proper tool and after this work has been done, 1t 1s again removed.

When filling the caisson with concrete, the

poured in, which comes to rest on the door 34 and on the platform 32. The door 24e is then closed and pressure restored to the air lock, which permits the door 34 to open and the concrete to drop into the caisson. When conereting, the globe valve 64 is attached to a water pipe and a short length ot hose 65 attached on the inside of the air lock. After the concrete has been dumped, it is obvious that there will be particles of concrete lodged on the door 34 and also on the gasket 35, Vwhich would prevent proper' closing of the door 34: for the introduction of the neXt batch of concrete.

The hose G5 is now used to wash ott the deck and the door so that all parts will be perfectly clean and the door closed properly. By using a hose for this purpose the cleaning can be done more thoroughly and with less use of water than is now done where a short section of rigid pipe with a flattened end is used for this purpose.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim is l. An air lock comprising a cylindrical member, a top having a circular opening eccentrically located therein secured to one end ot' said cylindrical member, a. one piece air tight closure for said circular opening, said closure and the top each provided with a semicircularpassage through which a cable is adapted toy pass, said openings being located inthe center of the top, a second meinber secured to the opposite end of said cylindricalmeniber, a deck provided with a central opening located in said second meinber, a one piece air tight closure for said last mentioned opening, a shaft projecting through one wall 'of said second member, hinges rigidly secured to said last mentione'd'closure and said shaft, a lever secured to the projecting end of said shaft, a rod having a bifurcated end secured to said lever and project-ing upwardly therefrom so that said closure can be opened and closed from the top of said air lock, a guideloop carried by the top 'ot' said cylindrical member, a hardened wear 'plate surrounding the semi-circular opening in the top, and a hardened wear plate surrounding the semicircular opening in the edge of the first mentioned closure.

2. An air lock comprising a cylindrical member provided with a top, said top having an opening eccentrically iformed therein, a one piece air tight hinged closure Stor said opening, means whereby said hinged closure can be adjusted for securing an air tight contact, a second member secured to the opposite end oi said cylindrical member, a deck provided with a central opening secured to and within said second member, an air tight closure for said central opening, a shaft rrigidly secured to said air tight closure and projecting from one side of said cylindrical member, means operable from the top of the closure for rocking said shaft whereby said airtight closure is opened and closed, and means located Within the air lock and both closures operated by one man, and a passageway formed in the edges of the opening in the top and of the closure therefor so as to permit the passage ot' a cable therethrough when said closure is closed, said passageway being in alignment with the center of the deck opening.

3. An air lock comprising a cylindrical casing having a tapered lower end and a closed top provided with an opening, an eccentrically located circularl door carried by the top ot said casing, the edge of the door passing through the center oi' the top, a deck having a concentrieally located door located near the bottom of said casing, gaskets secured to each of said doors for rendering the same air tight, means whereby both ot' said Vdoors are operated from the top of said casing by one man, a passageway forme-d centrally of the top and equally divided between the top and the door carried thereby, and hardened wear plates surrounding .said passage for preventing its enlargement due to the passage of a hoisting cable therethrough.

liti

4:. An air lock comprising a cylindrical member for operatingsaid last mentioned le member provided with a top having an eccentrically located circular opening therein, the edge of said opening` passing through the center point of the top, a one piece hinged closure for said opening secured to the nnderside of the top, a second member secured to the lower end of the cylindrical member, a deck provided with a circular openingconh Centric with the cylindrical member secured within said second member, an air-tight one piece closure for said deck opening` liingedly secured to the underside of the deck, means operable from the top of the cylindrical closure, a guide-loop carried by said top for holding the last mentioned closure operating means in position, a passageway for a hoisting cable formed in the edges of the opening of the top and its closure, said passageway being' in vertical alignment With the center of the deck opening, and hardened wear plates Carried by the top and its door, eaeli plate partially,surrounding the passageway.

In testimony whereof we have affixed lour signatures.

JQHN H. MURPHY. ELSTON A. LOTZ. 

